I managed the recruitment at all my clubs. I would tell my scouts and coaches what I wanted and then did my homework on their recommendations and watched them in action.
The more the years passed, the more noise there would be in this area from other people inside the club, but I always insisted on being the person who made the final decision.
My scouts and coaches knew exactly what type of players I wanted for each position. I often saw good players, but did not try to sign them because they did not fit the identity of the team I was managing at the time.
Ideally, that kind of thinking is used in the data-driven model which is prevalent today – where the profile of signings is aligned to the identity of the club and what the manager needs.
Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are good examples of where it has worked brilliantly, but there are a few more established Premier League clubs who have not used it as successfully.
It is amazing how they unearth these players, and it is having access to this information that has turned the Premier League into a world league, where more than 65% of its players are foreign.
But, irrespective of having data as an incredible tool to discover new talent, being a dinosaur I would still always insist on viewing the player before they were signed, and I am sure most managers now would want that too.
If the player I signed did not fit the bill, and there were many, then I was more than happy to raise my hand and accept full responsibility.
It does not always happen that way anymore, however, and it has irked me to hear that some of the players brought in to a club have not had the manager’s approval, or even been seen by him.
Unless everything is joined up, you are never going to be successful.
Young managers today often don’t know anything different but when I speak to them about this, I always remind them that at the end of the day, it is you who is in front of the dugout when your team is playing, and because it’s your job that’s on the line, then the team should be of your making.
So you have got to be strong and make sure the players coming in are better than what you’ve got, based on data or what you can see for yourself. If you can trust the person who is signing them, happy days… if not, you’re in trouble!
